4 Ways to Fight a Funk

Just because you’re in a bad mood doesn’t mean you have to stay there. Use these easy, scientifically proven strategies and yoga poses to turn your frown upside down.

1/Quench Your Thirst

If you’re cranky or sluggish, a glass of water or another caffeine-free, nonalcoholic beverage can help according to the Journal of Nutrition. Mild dehydration can cloud a sunny disposition.

2/Take a Whiff

Workers in a British study felt more content when they sniffed rosemary oil. The higher the concentration of rosemary in your system, the bigger the mood boost. According to Traci Dalrymple, certified aromatherapist (www.kokokahn.com), “Rosemary also helps improve memory. Peppermint and Lemongrass essential oils are uplifting as well. Put a drop of any of these oils on a cotton ball and inhale deeply.”

3/Yoga Pose: Reclined Bound Angle

Instructions • 1 to 5 minutes • Props | Two blocks or two blankets.

1. Start by lying on your back with your legs bent and the soles of your feet on the ground close to your hips. Drop your legs open so the soles of your feet come together. Position your arms on the ground so that your hands are six to eight inches from your sides, palms facing upward. Relax.

2. Stay in the posture for one minute initially, breathing evenly. With practice increase the time in the pose to five minutes.

Modification If you feel strain in the groin, support the thighs with blocks or blankets.

3. Lift the sitting bones toward the ceiling, then with an exhalation, push your top thighs back and stretch your heels down toward the floor. Straighten your knees, but do not to lock them. Pull your thighbones back into your hamstrings to elongate your waist.

4. Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index fingers actively into the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, then widen them and draw them toward the tailbone. Keep the head between the upper arms; relax the back off the neck. Stay from 15 seconds to one minute, breathing evenly. Then bend your knees to the floor and come back to all fours.

Modification If your hamstrings are tight, bend your legs. After bending your knees, play with straightening your legs more and more.

200/ Percent more likely you are to develop depression if you work 11 (versus eight) hours a day SOURCE: PLOS ONE